U.S. plans storm alert for E. Africa

GENEVA — Cell phone users in East Africa will be able to receive warnings when a storm is brewing, thanks to a low-cost alert system U.S. scientists are hoping to set up in the next few years, officials said Tuesday.

The NextStorm system — a computer program that analyzes recent satellite images to predict where thunderstorms are likely to occur in the next hour — should be in place by the end of the decade, Jacqueline Schafer of USAID told journalists in Geneva.

Officials will use the information to send alerts by radio, television and mobile text message.

The U.S. development agency set up a similar system, expected to begin operating this summer, in Central America together with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA and local partners.